Master Emerald
The Master Emerald is a massive green emerald and a mystical relic of immeasurable power from the forgotten past. Created by the gods, the Master Emerald acts as a counter to the Chaos Emeralds. The one who controls the Master Emerald can nullify and control the Chaos Emeralds, making the Master Emerald a very valuable gem. The Master Emerald rests on Angel Island, located on the Shrine Isle, where its power keeps the island afloat in the sky; without it, the island will fall down. Over the last four millennia, the Master Emerald has been guarded by the surviving echidnas of the Knuckles Clan who has kept the gem safe from those seeking it for their own gain. In the present day, its current guardian is Knuckles the Echidna. History Background The Master Emerald has existed since well before historic record keeping had began. Where the gem came from is shrouded in mystery, though some have said that it was created by the Gods to neutralize the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds in the event that anybody attempted to use them for evil, and equipped the gem with the ability to nullify and control the Chaos Emeralds should anybody attempt to misuse them. An ancient mantra associated with the Emeralds eventually arose, explaining their connection and abilities. Roughly 4,000 years ago, the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds resided in the Altar of the Emeralds, a shrine in the outskirts of the Mystic Ruins where a colony of Chao lived peacefully. The shrine was protected by a sacred barrier, preventing anyone from taking the Emeralds. Eventually, a residential Chao encountered the Master Emerald and got mutated into the mystical water beast Chaos, who became the guardian of the shrine's inhabitants and Emeralds. As the ancient Knuckles Clan arose, the members would revere the Master Emerald as a sacred object. It was around that time that Tikal, the daughter of chief Pachacamac of the Knuckles Clan and a friend to the Chao and Chaos, was allowed into the shrine. There, she saw the Master Emerald and understood its role from her clan's mantra. At the same time, Nakbé, the son of Locke and Lara, who opposed Pachacamac's ways, was chosen as Guardian of the Master Emerald and was given the task to not let anyone else steal it. As the Knuckles Clan faced extermination at the hands of the Nocturnus Clan, Pachacamac and his followers launched a raid on the alter to steal the Emeralds and gain undisputed power. Tikal stood between them however, begging her people to leave the creatures, and the Emerald, in peace. However, her pleas fell on deaf ears, and the men trampled over Tikal and the Chao alike in the process, prompting Chaos to appear and wipe out most of the clan in a fit of rage as Perfect Chaos. The creature out of control and poised to destroy the planet, Tikal prayed to the Master Emerald to stop Chaos. In response, the gem sealed both Chaos and Tikal inside itself. In the process, it created an energy surge that ripped off a large part of land and it into the sky where it would float with the remaining echidnas, creating Angel Island. At the same time Nakbé witnessed the event happen and, in fear, placed himself in suspended animation using the Guardian Stone to preserve his soul to save his life. With the Master Emerald keeping the island airborne, the surviving members of the Knuckles Clan would devote themselves to protecting the prized gem in hopes of preventing a tragedy like the Chaos incident from occurring again. Throughout history, many people tried to steal the Master Emerald, and each time, they were thwarted. Over the centuries, the few surviving members of Knuckles Clan became even fewer until only Nakbé, who woke up with no memories of his life or even his name, remained. Brought into the modern world to guard the Master Emerald, Nakbé, calling himself Knuckles after his spiked knuckle-claws, assumed this role without knowing or remembering the reason why, but knowing from innate knowledge that this was his purpose, and spent his life in solidarity. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles In the present day, Angel Island and the Master Emerald remains guarded by one remaining echidna, Knuckles the Echidna. Spending a solitary life alone in his duty, the emerald came under threat when the Death Egg crashed onto the island. Knuckles encountered the ship's creator and pilot, Dr. Eggman, who convinced the somewhat guidable echidna that Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower, both on the doctor's tail, where on their way to the island to steal the Master Emerald. As Knuckles went on to confront the duo, the doctor took the opportunity to steal the Master Emerald himself as a power source to relaunch the Death Egg, much to Knuckles' humiliation at realizing he's been tricked. With Knuckles' help, Sonic managed to get on board the Death Egg as it launched and returned to the surface, Master Emerald in hand, and returned it to Angel Island, allowing it to arise once again. Sonic Adventure Six years later, the Master Emerald once again fell into Eggman's sights: after learning of the legendary water beast Chaos, the Doctor smashed the Emerald into pieces, releasing the monster from its limbo. With the Emerald's power no longer in place, Angel Island once again fell into the ocean. The Island in danger, Knuckles initiated his first quest to hunt down the missing Emerald shards that had flown off everywhere. After a long search, Knuckles restored the Emerald to its former glory, and soon Chaos was even returned to its home within it, now recovered from the rage it had felt since 4,000 years prior. Sonic Adventure 2 It did not take long before the Emerald was once again put in danger, this time by a jewel thief named Rouge the Bat. As the two fought over possession of the gem, Eggman turned up to swipe it from under their noses in hopes of using it in his latest plan. However Knuckles made the ultimate sacrifice by once again shattering it before Eggman could escape. Angered at losing her newest treasure, Rouge vowed to hunt down the scattered pieces for herself before Knuckles could. Once all the pieces had finally been returned aboard the Space Colony ARK, the restored Emerald became the key to stopping the Chaos Emerald-fueled Space Colony ARK from hurtling toward the Earth. Sonic Battle When Sonic went to fight Emerl on the Death Egg, he brought the Master Emerald with him, hoping it would negate the Chaos Emeralds that powered Emerl. However, the Master Emerald was shattered by a crazed Emerl, as he was bothered by the light it produced. After his death, it was put back together again. Sonic Advance 3 After Eggman uses the Genesis Wave to split the world into seven pocket zones, Sonic and Tails travel to the Master Emerald in order to use its powers to undo the changes. After the heroes find it, the Hyper Eggrobo is then fought at the Shrine Isle. After it is defeated, the Master Emerald releases a bright light and repairs the world. Sonic Rivals One year later, Eggman Nega, masquerading as Eggman, stole the Master Emerald and used a special camera to turn it into a card, forcing Knuckles to find him and get it back. The Master Emerald exists in all moments in time simultaneously, so when Eggman Nega transformed the Emerald into a card in one moment in time, it disappeared from all other points in time. Sonic Rivals 2 The Master Emerald was once again stolen. Working with Rouge, Knuckles uses an Emerald Detector he found to help locate the Master Emerald without luck, as the Master Emerald is in fact inside the detector. The Shattered World Crisis During the Shattered World Crisis, the Master Emerald became the object of conflict between three opposing sides. Shadow the Hedgehog of Team Dark were sent by G.U.N. to recover the emerald and keep it in a secured location, while Knuckles stood his ground in guarding its location. Meantime, Shadow's new rival Eclipse the Darkling, who crash-landed on the island, sought the emerald's power to help him and the remaining Dark Arms conquer their enemies. In the chaos of it all, having fought both Shadow and Eclipse, Knuckles recited Tikal's Prayer and shattered the emerald as a last resort. Accompanied by Chip, Knuckles began his search of the Master Emerald's shards and eventually arrived in Casino Park, where they recovered an Emerald shard from a woman who had made it into a necklace and claimed that it was a family heirloom. He subsequently teamed up with the Freedom Fighters and made plans to find the shards with help from Amy Rose and her Mystic Melody. The pair quickly obtained a shard in Mykonos, Greece. At one point, Sonic later located another shard beneath the Green Hill Zone. Unfortunately, another fragment later fell into the hands of Walter Naugus, restoring at least some of his lost magical abilities for his allies-Wendy Naugus and her Witchcarters. Meanwhile, Knuckles and Amy found another shard on their way to Moss the Sloth's hut in the Rocky Jungle Zone. While staying at the hut, Amy learned that the remaining shards were clustered into groups. Powers and traits The Master Emerald is renowned as the most powerful relic on Earth, surpassing even that of the Chaos Emeralds which are said to bestow ultimate power. It holds unbound and infinite power in the form of extremely potent and raw chaos energy which can harnessed to power machinery, enable Chaos Powers and initiate a super transformation. Like the Chaos Emeralds, its power can also be harnessed to perform certain reality-warping feats. As its primary function, the Master Emerald contains special powers that lets it nullify and control the Chaos Emeralds' energies. This grants it the ability to either completely shut down the Chaos Emeralds' energies or potentially amplify their power. However, it is only those from the Knuckles Clan, such as Knuckles and Tikal, who can harness the full potential of the Master Emerald and communicate with it. To unlock its power, these guardians must on most occasions recite Tikal's Prayer. Like the Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald seems to possess some sort of sentience. It appeared on its own in an attempt to stop a rampaging Emerl and it can create three-dimensional holographic images within itself to communicate. In addition, if the Master Emerald is shattered into several pieces, it can repair itself if its shards are brought back together. However, shattering the Master Emerald seems to give the shards an explosive trajectory, causing them to fly a great distance which makes the task of gathering them rather painstaking. The Master Emerald is a unique transcendental object that exists simultaneously in all timelines across the time-space continuum. That means should the Master Emerald disappear in one time frame, it would cause a chain reaction that would make it vanish from all existing time frames. Size dispute The Master Emerald's size and shape seems to change over time; most times the Master Emerald is fairly larger than Knuckles, while other times its about the same size as a Chaos Emerald. While these appearances may seem to contradict themselves, it is actually a demonstration of the Master Emerald's ability to change its size according to its owner's will. This is firmly demonstrated by Knuckles: After Knuckles restores the Master Emerald, he is able to shrink it down to the size of his hand. Then, after Shadow defeats the Biolizard, Knuckles puts the Master Emerald into the core of the Space Colony ARK where he is able to enlarge it to a size slightly larger than himself. Category:Emeralds Category:Knuckles Clan Category:Objects